At Shawsheen Tech, our focus on our students’ mental health and social-emotional wellness is an essential part of what we do every day.  Of course, we are only face-to-face with our students for 6 hours each day and only for the 180 days of the school year, so it’s important that we provide families with information should you become concerned.  This page offers parents information about Shawsheen’s social-emotional health curriculum, school-based resources to contact if you have concerns about your child’s mental or social/emotional health, and community-based resources that parents can also access for a variety of mental or social/emotional health concerns.  The information included in this page will be updated as new resources become available.  Parents or staff members who have ideas about how to improve this resource guide should email their suggestions to Email Jeff Albert, Shawsheen’s Director of Student Services, at Email Jeff Albert

It is important for our community to be aware of what our district is already doing for our students to aid in the prevention of social-emotional challenges. Our Health and Wellness Department provides social-emotional learning curriculum to all Shawsheen students across all grade levels. This curriculum covers a variety of health and wellness topics that are thoughtfully introduced as students navigate through their four years here at Shawsheen. The information found below describes some warning signs, healthy practices, and specific topics covered in the curriculum to address social and emotional challenges. 

• Shawsheen’s Social-Emotional Health Curriculum

  With Shawsheen’s Health and Wellness program, we support students social emotional learning needs in many ways. Topics that are discussed each year include: 

  • Understanding depression 

  • Identifying coping strategies 

  • Practicing self-advocacy skills

  These self-care techniques are deemed the top 3 coping strategies by NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health):

  • Exercise

  • Healthy Communication Skills 

  • Understanding the importance of being around positive people

  Ways to identify if your student is at risk:

  • Abruptly ending a hobby, sport or interest and not returning to it

  • Persistent irritability

  • Lack of self-care (personal hygiene)

  • Overly tired and lacking motivation and goals

  • Family history of mental health or depression

  Shawsheen Health & Wellness curriculum includes: 
  

  • Teen brain development and how it is prone for addiction, substance abuse prevention

  • Sexuality education, consent, LGBTQ/gender issues and healthy relationships 

  • Teen dating violence prevention

  • Nutrition and substance abuse prevention 

Shawsheen Resources

Community Resources